Activism Guide

Amnesty International is pressing the Canadian government to take decisive action on human rights at home and on the world stage in 2018. The call comes as we release our annual Human Rights Agenda for Canada, pressing the federal government to build on progress seen in 2017 while addressing ongoing serious human rights shortcomings.

17-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi has been called the ‘Rosa Parks of Palestine’. For years, she and her family have bravely stood up against the Israeli occupation of their land. But she now faces up to 10 years in prison over an altercation with Israeli soldiers.

We need you to take action to call for the release of Ahed Tamimi. Here is how you can get involved:

1. TAKE ACTION NOW

Sign and share our action demanding that Ahed be released immediately and unconditionally

>>SIGN NOW

2. Organize in your community

Organise a demonstration in your community or in a public space of relevance. Get your message across - maybe you could consider making a banner, a placard or photo-boards to amplify your messages? Coming together to create a banner, for example, can be a great way to engage people with have different skills and interests in participating in your action.

After spending almost 8 months in jail on unjust charges, an Istanbul court ordered that Amnesty Turkey Chair Taner Kiliç be released on bail on January 31st. In unprecedented flip flop later that day the court overturned its decision and Taner was re-arrested and returned to detention as his friends, family and colleagues waited for him to be released. This is a cruel and disgraceful move by the Turkish government. Their continued crackdown on human rights defenders in Turkey is an affront to justice.

We need you to take action to help free Taner. Here is how you can get involved:

1. TAKE ACTION NOW

Sign and share our action demanding that Taner be released immediately and unconditionally

>>SIGN NOW

2. Organize in your community

Organise a protest outside the Turkish Consulate in your community or another public space; and share on social media using the hashtag #FreeTaner

If you’re a reader, a book lover, and take an interest in human rights, then Amnesty International has a book club for you! Launched in 2014, the Amnesty International Book Club engages readers, libraries and book clubs in reading beyond the book.

What does that mean? Our book club not only features excellent literature, but we produce great discussion guides which provide background information and an action readers can take to protect human rights. Awareness plus action makes this a different kind of book club.

Did we mention that it’s all free? The Book Club has more than 6,500 members from coast to coast to coast, and ages range from people in their teens to some in their nineties. Everyone is welcome to join!

Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, for 50 years.

Join us in calling on the Canadian government to ban illegal Israeli settlement goods from entering our markets, and to stop companies based in Canada operating in settlements or trading in their goods. Help put an end to the cycle of violations suffered by Palestinians living under Israel's occupation.

Learn how you can get involved and look out for upcoming actions online.

1. LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CAMPAIGN

Read our latest blog about the campaign to mark 50 years of Israeli occuapation of the West Bank.

>>> Read the blog now

2. COLLECT PETITION SIGNATURES

Gather signatures in your community on our petition calling on the Canadian government to ban Israeli settlement goods.

Amnesty International is calling on the Governments of Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to launch investigations into the role of Shell Oil regarding the horrific crimes committed in Ogoniland by the Nigerian military during the 1990s. In 1995, nine men from Ogoniland were executed. The executions of the Ogoni Nine, after an unfair trial, were the culmination of a much broader crackdown on the Ogoni people by the Nigerian military government. Amnesty`s latest report focuses on widespread human rights violations including unlawful killings, torture, rape and the destruction of homes and property, carried out by the military in the years leading up to the executions in 1995.

Amnesty International has reviewed thousands of pages of internal company documents and witness statements in order to reach this conclusion. The evidence shows that Shell repeatedly encouraged the Nigerian military to deal with community protests, even when they knew it would lead to massive human rights violations.

Mexico is on the front lines of a massive refugee crisis, a crisis effectively hidden by our mass media’s single-minded focus on the plight of refugees seeking safe haven in Europe.

Huge numbers of people are fleeing across the southern border from Guatemala into Mexico because they fear for their lives amidst skyrocketing violence in Guatemala, and neighbouring El Salvador and Honduras, countries with some of the highest murder rates on the planet.

Mexico has laws and systems to protect refugees in Mexico. Yet Mexican authorities are constantly failing to comply with their legal obligations. Instead, they are sending endangered people back to life-threatening situations.

Agents of the Mexican Immigration Service detain migrants in San Mateo, Chiapas Photo:ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images

Over the past year, women, transgender, and non-binary people around the world have posted online their personal stories of gender-based discrimination and violence, claiming their power by telling their stories in their own words. People have globally united against hatred and fear and in support of gender justice and equality through women’s marches. Discussions in feminist and social justice circles about how to create an inclusive, feminist future are now permeating everyday conversations in public, work places, and the corridors of political power.

But not everyone has the privilege to safely share their story online. Not every survivor wants this burden placed upon them. And much work remains to create transformative societal, legislative, and judicial changes that address the multiple and intersecting root causes of gender inequality. How will Amnesty promote transformative change in support of gender equality on International Women's Day?

You probably already know that Canadian mining companies explore the world looking for gold, silver and other precious metals. But did you know that Canadian companies also regularly export big servings of human rights abuses alongside their mining projects?

Time after time, supporters of Amnesty Canada have faithfully raised their voices in countless creative ways to denounce acts of terror aimed at destroying the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó in north-western Colombia. Community leaders have told us all the messages of concern, like those written by activists in Vernon, have helped to save lives.

Now the Peace Community is appealing for support again amidst dangerous new threats from armed paramilitaries, who often operate with the support or acquiescence of state security forces and authorities. On 29 December, five paramilitaries attacked and injured German Graciano Posso, the community’s legal representative. Other members of the community courageously managed to disarm and capture two of the assailants (pictured below), suffering injuries in the process, and hand them over to the National Prosecutor’s Office. Yet authorities later released the two.

Please note: This blog has been updated for summer tabling activism [see the Take Action section below].

The 600 members of the Indigenous community of Cuninico in Peru’s Amazon region have a spiritual relationship with the Marañón river. They depend on it for drinking, washing and preparing food. Fish caught in the river is their main source of protein.

Following an oil spill from a pipeline near a tributary of the river, women like Juana Otejón report that they and their children have suffered debilitating health problems including stomach pains, fever, pain urinating, skin problems and numerous miscarriages.

In the Andean region of Espina, Indigenous communities are also facing a terrifying health crisis.

On December 10, 2017 - International Human Rights Day - Amnesty International supporters in Canada and around the world took part in Amnesty's annual Write for Rights write-a-thon, the world's largest letter-writing event, now in 80 countries.

From coast to coast across Canada more than 1,500 private and public Write for Rights events took place in support of human rights defenders! The global total is already at more than 1.9 million letters, with many, many more yet to be reported.

People took part in Write for Rights events of all kinds, indoors, outdoors, in homes, churches, community centres, pubs, cafes, at work, over lunch, over dinner or over coffee. Events were organised and attended by schools, universities, friends, family, community members, some were open to the public and some were more intimate settings. The one common thread connecting all of these events happening across every province in Canada and beyond - is the many letters that were written to authorities calling for justice and the many messages of solidarity that were sent to frontline human rights defenders.

Each year Israeli and international businesses export hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of goods produced in illegal settlements which are built in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, to Canada. These illegal Israeli settlements are a driving force behind serious human rights violations against Palestinians.

#WriteForRights, Amnesty International’s biggest local event of the year, took over the Centre for Social Innovation Annex on December 10.

Every year, people from more than 180 countries take part in the day-long marathon to write, tweet, email and sign petitions urging governments around the world to release prisoners of conscience and protect human rights defenders. Mary Macrae has been attending the event for years. “There’s always this question if it really works,” says Macrae. “It does.”

“The fundamental issue is First Nations in the region have entrenched constitutional rights. Not just the requirement for consultation and accommodation, which we always hear about when we’re talking about resource projects. But they have entrenched constitutional rights to practice hunting and fishing as before, And that’s going to be violated by this dam.” - John Horgan, May 8, 2014

In announcing his government's decision to allow continued construction of a mega-project he once opposed, BC Premier John Horgan said that construction was already past "the point of no return." That's blatently false. Here's why: